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• willy
  willy

  noun

  willow.
• Willy
  Willy

  noun

  a male given name, form of William.

willy

¹ American  

[wil-ee] / ˈwɪl i /

Or willey

noun

willies plural

1. willow.

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verb (used with object)

willied, willying

1. to willow (textile fibers).

willy ² American  

[wil-ee] / ˈwɪl i /

noun

Chiefly British Slang.

willies plural

1. penis.

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Willy ³ American  

[wil-ee] / ˈwɪl i /

noun

1. a male given name, form of William.

2. a female given name.

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willy British  

/ ˈwɪlɪ /

noun

1. informal a childish or jocular term for penis

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• willies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of willy¹

First recorded in 1825–35; special use of dialect willy, Old English wilige “basket” (originally one made of willow twigs); akin to willow

Origin of willy²

First recorded in 1900–05; possibly from Willy ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

willy Willy willies

Consider buddleboy, bogeyman, bumboat man, flirter, higgler, pugger, muffleman, quarrel picker, spittle-maker, whiff-maker and willy man.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025

Maybe the next time we see them all, W. will be giving Obama a wet willy at Trump’s second inauguration.

From Slate ● Jan. 9, 2025

For a while, companies like Apple wouldn’t let app developers run all willy nilly with the power to request our attention at any moment of the day.

From The Verge ● Aug. 5, 2022

Just within a couple of yards of the water’s edge, the species are abundant, the nomenclature mellifluous: buttercup, foxglove, leopard’s bane, nipplewort, forget-me-not, large-leaf aven, fringe cup, sticky willy.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 11, 2022

Then Wang Lung perceived suddenly out of his astonishment that all these men seized were as ignorant as he as to why they were thus being taken, willy nilly, whether they would or not.

From "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck

The Hay Wain sits on a 6ft-wide canvas and depicts a scene at Flatford with a horse and cart in the river and Willy Lott's Cottage on the bank.

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026

“The memory business historically has been a tough business, not hugely profitable, but these guys have persisted,” said Willy Shih, a professor of management practice in business administration at Harvard Business School.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 3, 2026

Netflix is so psyched about generative software that it’s spent the year acquiring an A.I. production studio, launching a different studio for A.I.-animated shorts, and re-creating Gene Wilder’s voice for a Willy Wonka–themed game show.

From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2026

The latter for featured actress for her portrayal of Willy Loman’s protective wife, Linda, in “Death of a Salesman.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026

Grandfather had taught little Willy a lot But now little Willy was on his own.

From "Stone Fox" by John Reynolds Gardiner

But upon closer interrogation, the whole thing gave me the willies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 14, 2026

Granted, discovering that her superfan collected one of her toenails does give the otherwise unflappable spirit a serious case of the willies.

From Salon ● Dec. 29, 2021

Did they get the willies confronting their younger versions?

From The Guardian ● Nov. 1, 2019

But she’s also a goofball who gave him wet willies and helps raise his daughter when he has custody.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 7, 2015

Can’t joke it away Can’t even talk to each other except maybe in whispers, all hush-hush, and that just revs up the willies.

From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien